Besides the point sources (sewage, sullage, industrial effluent, etc.), pollutants from
the non-point sources (urban and rural runoff) are also responsible to make river water
unsuitable for our uses. Management of the pollutants from the point and non-point
sources are equally important for sustainable management of water resources. This
statement is apparently true as it is observed that despite the implementation of the EQA
for more than two decades (which mainly controls point sources) the trend of river water
quality is not improving until 2000. It is the year 2001 when significant improvement in
the river water quality status was observed which might be linked to the endorsement of
the urban stormwater management manual for Malaysia (Manual Saliran Mesra Alam,
MSMA) by the cabinet in 2000 [3].